I saw with great interest the story regarding SkiCo’s and Intrawest’s pending sale of the Snowmass Base Village to Pat Smith and WestPac Investments, LLC.
First, let me say that I come to the Base Village discussion very late–I was on my hiatus from the Valley when it was being debated. I haven’t studied the issue enough to have a strong opinion on whether the Village, as envisioned, will be a net positive or negative for the community.
In addition, as someone with a MBA, and as a former management consultant, I can be skeptical when private equity firms come into play. The “alternative” of Intrawest being taken private–where the PE firms generally pay these days a strong premium in a crowded field to buy out businesses–may not have been so rosy.
To get their increasingly diminishing returns, PE firms notoriously cut costs aggressively, increase project risk through raising very large amounts of debt (to leverage their investments), and gain any advantage to maximize short term cash flow. All without the “burden” of public reporting, Sarbanes-Oxley, etc. Think Richard Gere’s firm in Pretty Woman–private equity is essentially sexy rebranding of the leveraged-buyout model popular in the 1980s.
I can write more on that if interested–and some PE firms like Bono’s Elevation Partners are laudable–but a PE route may not have been a desirable path.
However, I noted with interest the Aspen Daily News editorial the call to “do their due diligence on Pat Smith and Westpac.” The editorial continued, “we all deserve to know about Westpac’s other developments and how Smith has handled other transactions, whether he has built stuff just to turn a profit and then cut and run, or whether he’s been a good citizen in other communities.”
A call to due diligence? That definitely perked the ear (or Googling fingers) of this Aspen Post blogger.
After about an hour of internet snooping, the answer looks interesting–and like the potential PE path, possibly not so rosy.
At first, Google appeared not to be so helpful. A search for “Westpac Investments LLC” returned only 108 hits–and most of these on the Base Villiage. Go to “Westpac Investments” and you get only 490 hits–and most of these on a sister subsidiary based in New Zealand (I found out through looking at a 6k report on EDGAR that Westpac, one of Australia and New Zealand’s largest commercial and institutional banks, owns Westpac Investments LLC, which is based in San Luis Obispo). Type in “Pat Smith”, well foggedaboudit. But “Pat Smith” and “Westpac” you get only 87 hits, again mostly about the Base Village.
Heck, typing in “Michael Brylawski” gives you almost twice as many hits.
Clearly, the due diligence may not be so easy. Westpac Investments, LLC either has a limited operating history, or covers its tracks well.
However, buried in the links was a recent story in the San Luis Obispo’s New Times on a somewhat controversial new deal with–you guessed it–Westpac Investments LLC.
The story says “A complicated agreement involving a downtown public parking lot and a potential five-story 70-room hotel—negotiated behind closed doors—has been approved by the SLO City Council, after former mayor Peg Pinard blasted the process as “an abuse of public power…”
“Council members voted 3-1 in a public meeting Tuesday to approve a complex memorandum of understanding with Westpac Investments, [my emphasis] saying the project would revitalize the west end of downtown.”
The story goes on to quote the former mayor, “Pinard said public consultation should have been the first step in the process: ‘This is their land, not the staff’s, not the council’s. There’s no excuse [for the exclusive negotiations]. This is an abuse of public power. The process needs to be open. That didn’t happen. That’s wrong. Go to the people, do what you’re supposed to do, represent them, not the developer.”
Hmmmm…a closed door process. A government being accused of representing the developer, not the residents.
Maybe this is just an isolated incident? And developments are often controversial. As we know, in passionate communities like ours and San Luis Obispo, new developments often inspire vigorous debate.
Well, a bit more searching, and I found this article from the San Luis Obispo Tribune. Titled “Templeton Development Under Review,” it starts with “A controversial Templeton development remained on indefinite hold Friday while the county Planning Department reviews resident concerns about the project’s size.”
Guess who is spearheading the project? That’s right, “San Luis Obispo-based Westpac Investments.” The article goes on to describe citizen concerns about the project’s size, location, and appropriateness for their community.
Hmmmm…a large project managed by WestPac under review (hence on hold) for being oversized and locationally challenged.
Again, I found all of this after only an hour of internet searching (and another hour to write this up). Aspen Times/Daily News and others actually getting paid to find and investigate the news, get on your phones, get some contacts lined up, and book some tickets to San Luis Obispo.
This is going to be interesting.
Aw…come on! It’s not like Westpac is trying to rip anyone off. As a matter of fact, I heard that they had thrown in some beads and bits of colored glass just to sweeten the deal. It’s worked in the past….
Aw…come on! It’s not like Westpac is trying to rip anyone off. As a matter of fact, I heard that they had thrown in some beads and bits of colored glass just to sweeten the deal. It’s worked in the past….
Here is what I found. I was looking for the same info (as my job) and had to tell you since you were so irked.
WestPac Development
805 Aerovista Pl, Ste 202
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7920
Contacts:
Hamish Marshall
805-547-5502
Todd Newman
805-440-2325
email: todd@westpacproperty.com
Here is what I found. I was looking for the same info (as my job) and had to tell you since you were so irked.
WestPac Development
805 Aerovista Pl, Ste 202
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7920
Contacts:
Hamish Marshall
805-547-5502
Todd Newman
805-440-2325
email: todd@westpacproperty.com
A few additional comments:
1) as to post #2, I’m not ‘irked’, I just (as described in my post) did some due diligence. I have no opinion on the base village, and don’t know whether Pat Smith and Westpac will do a good job or not. Hopefully he will.
I think the mission as blogger is to not only offer opinions but to act fast on the newscycle (blogs are 24 hours) and offer an “open source” font of research and investigation. I see my post in that light, not as having an opinion (as opposed to my having a strong opinion on the Sheriff’s race, for instance).
However, I still have not seen anything mentioning the San Luis Obispo stories–which seem relevant given the Daily News’ editorial– in the local press as of Tuesday.
-as to one statement in my article, based on what I heard on KNFO this morning, it seems that WestPac is not owned by WestPac Bank of AU/NZ, just “affiliated”. WestPac Investments LLC. is mentioned in the 6k filing on EDGAR, but its formal relationship was unclear and I assumed it was owned.
That said, I would consider the fact that it is private, and not owned by a multinational bank, as more a negative than a positive per my private equity comments above, and as well it makes the sources of funds more risky.
A few additional comments:
1) as to post #2, I’m not ‘irked’, I just (as described in my post) did some due diligence. I have no opinion on the base village, and don’t know whether Pat Smith and Westpac will do a good job or not. Hopefully he will.
I think the mission as blogger is to not only offer opinions but to act fast on the newscycle (blogs are 24 hours) and offer an “open source” font of research and investigation. I see my post in that light, not as having an opinion (as opposed to my having a strong opinion on the Sheriff’s race, for instance).
However, I still have not seen anything mentioning the San Luis Obispo stories–which seem relevant given the Daily News’ editorial– in the local press as of Tuesday.
-as to one statement in my article, based on what I heard on KNFO this morning, it seems that WestPac is not owned by WestPac Bank of AU/NZ, just “affiliated”. WestPac Investments LLC. is mentioned in the 6k filing on EDGAR, but its formal relationship was unclear and I assumed it was owned.
That said, I would consider the fact that it is private, and not owned by a multinational bank, as more a negative than a positive per my private equity comments above, and as well it makes the sources of funds more risky.
Actually, I found this to be another contact:
3rd Floor
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
US
805 898 8820
patrick@WestPacUSA.com
I have no opinions, this is just my job to find the info.
Actually, I found this to be another contact:
3rd Floor
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
US
805 898 8820
patrick@WestPacUSA.com
I have no opinions, this is just my job to find the info.
Michael,
As your headline states “Who is Patrick Smith” . Google his name “Patrick Neiland Smith” and you might be surprised.
Michael,
As your headline states “Who is Patrick Smith” . Google his name “Patrick Neiland Smith” and you might be surprised.
Michael,
It looks like the big fish in the small pond will be swimming upstream again when Patrick Neiland Smith goes back into battle in front of the Supreme Court of Appeals in early 2007. Anyone sitting in the courtroom listening to his trial would have kept a safe distance after hearing what kind of life this man had lived and what he did to his wife and children. Someone needs to talk to his ex-wife to get the correct story. It appears that Mr Smith is low keying his behavior for the benefit of his financial goals. If the Appeals court sends this case back for retrial someone from Snowmass should sit in on it. Be warned that if this case is sent back to the courts the trial may have to carry an x rating for content.
Michael,
It looks like the big fish in the small pond will be swimming upstream again when Patrick Neiland Smith goes back into battle in front of the Supreme Court of Appeals in early 2007. Anyone sitting in the courtroom listening to his trial would have kept a safe distance after hearing what kind of life this man had lived and what he did to his wife and children. Someone needs to talk to his ex-wife to get the correct story. It appears that Mr Smith is low keying his behavior for the benefit of his financial goals. If the Appeals court sends this case back for retrial someone from Snowmass should sit in on it. Be warned that if this case is sent back to the courts the trial may have to carry an x rating for content.